Jets Finally Get a GM

By

Mike Sielski

Jan. 18, 2013 8:25 p.m. ET

At 11:23 a.m. New York time on Friday, Carol Idzik answered the phone in her family's home in Mercer Island, Wash. No, she said, her husband was not available to speak. He was on his way to his office at the Seattle Seahawks' headquarters, where he had worked for six years as their vice president of football administration. John Idzik, as it turned out, had some goodbyes to say.

ENLARGE

New Jets' GM John Idzik was head of football administration for Seattle.
Associated Press

The Jets announced late Friday afternoon that they had hired Idzik to be their next general manager, capping a 19-day search for a replacement for Mike Tannenbaum. Owner Woody Johnson had fired Tannenbaum on Dec. 31, less than 24 hours after the team completed a 6-10 season, and then joined team president Neil Glat and Jed Hughes of Korn/Ferry International in forming a committee to find a new GM.

"After a thorough search in which we met many qualified and outstanding candidates, it was clear to me that John was the right choice," Johnson said in a statement. "Drawing on 20 years of NFL experience, John… will get the Jets where all of us want to be."

ENLARGE

Former Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg will run the Jets' offense.
Reuters

Not long after the Jets announced Idzik's hire, a person with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed that Marty Mornhinweg would be the team's new offensive coordinator. A former head coach for the Detroit Lions and most recently the Philadelphia Eagles' offensive coordinator, Mornhinweg will replace Tony Sparano, who lasted just one season.

Mornhinweg's arrival will mark a philosophical shift for the Jets' offense and head coach Rex Ryan from a "ground-and-pound" style to a more passing-oriented offense, and while Tannenbaum had adopted a more collaborative approach on player-personnel matters, this person also said that Idzik will have final say on all roster decisions. Ryan did sit in on Idzik's second interview with the Jets, this person said, but only to exchange ideas and not as an indication that Ryan had any influence on Johnson's choice as GM.

As the Jets had winnowed their list of general manager candidates to its final few, Idzik had seemed increasingly likely to be the last man standing. Early in their search, the Jets appeared to target candidates who specialized in talent evaluation but lately had focused on executives proficient in negotiating the NFL's salary cap.

During his career as an executive with the Seahawks, the Arizona Cardinals and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Idzik made a reputation for himself as an adroit cap manager, though he did begin his career as a personnel assistant with Tampa Bay in 1993. He was part of a front office that put together a Seahawks team that this season featured a terrific rookie quarterback in Russell Wilson and defense that allowed the fewest points in the NFL. He said in a statement that he was "eager to get started building on the foundation that was already in place," and he will need both skills—player evaluation and financial finesse—in his role with his new team.

Largely because of a paucity of talent at the skill positions, the Jets finished 30th out of the league's 32 teams in total offense in 2012, and they already are well over the projected $121 million salary cap limit for the 2013 season. But Idzik has the requisite expertise in both areas to excel in his new position, according to former Arizona Cardinals general manager Rod Graves, who worked with him for three years and credited him with helping construct the 2009 Cardinals team that won the NFC championship.

Graves said that Idzik was particularly adept at negotiating with players' agents to reach contract agreements that were at once creative and practical. And even as Idzik oversaw the Cardinals' football administration—handling the team's travel, its equipment management, its video department—he routinely stayed late to watch game tape, evaluating players and writing reports until well after dark.

"He's the kind of guy I would have to run out of the office from time to time: 'Hey, John, get home to Carol and the kids,'" Graves said. "His work ethic is just unbelievable. I can't emphasize enough that he's one of the brightest guys that I've ever been around."

Former Denver Broncos general manager Ted Sundquist, who interviewed for the Jets' job last week, said that Idzik possesses the sort of reasoned, unemotional manner that any successful GM must have. "He's certainly a capable guy," Sundquist said Friday in a phone interview. "Been in the league a long time. Knows all the people he needs to know. He'll put the Jets in an advantageous position. I'm happy for him."

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